[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 5]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 6191]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   RECOGNIZING WORLD MALARIA DAY 2010

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JIM McDERMOTT

                             of washington

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 22, 2010

  Mr. McDERMOTT. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of 2010 World 
Malaria Day, an issue of great importance to me. I witnessed the 
widespread devastation malaria can cause both times I lived in Africa, 
first in Ghana with a program called Operation Crossroads and then when 
I worked in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo) as a Foreign 
Service Medical Officer. While the disease affects people in every 
corner of the globe, it is particularly destructive to sub-Saharan 
Africa. There are 250 million malaria cases worldwide and nearly one 
million deaths are caused by malaria every year, ninety percent of 
which occur in sub-Saharan Africa. About 3.3 billion people--about one-
half of the world's population--are at risk of contracting the disease. 
It is important to recognize the damage that this disease afflicts on 
the generation of the future: seventy percent of the deaths caused by 
malaria happen to children under the age of five, and one in every five 
childhood deaths in Africa is due to malaria.
  Though the statistics are staggering, it is important to recognize 
the progress that we've made in treating the disease. We are farther 
along than ever in developing a successful vaccine to combat malaria 
and more and more people have access to anti-malarial drugs. And 
because of an increased focus on outreach, people are being educated 
about the importance of taking preventive steps like utilizing netting 
to prevent mosquito bites which spread the disease.
  Yet with all of the progress, we must continue to press forward with 
attempts to develop new tools and technologies to combat the spread of 
malaria. With the work and dedication of many nongovernmental 
organizations, including PATH, a nongovernmental organization located 
in my district that is leading the way in developing global health 
technology, I am confident that we will have made even greater progress 
when we observe World Malaria Day next year.

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